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libraryofcirclaria · 6 months ago

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1354

Library of Circlaria

Cabotton University Timeline

Campus Renovation

Once again, the University began experiencing issues with class venue overcrowding and over-scheduling. This time, the issue involved psychology classes in the Healthcare Department of the School of Critical Infrastructure, theatre classes in the College of the Arts, education classes in all of the schools and departments, and trademarking classes in the School of Business and School of Ethics.

Both traditional-minded Conservatives and far-left Liberals began advocating against a proposal made in Universal Council for another campus renovation, voicing such opposition upon the principle that the University Founders believed in giving Cabotton Scholars an open space in the outdoors in order to give them the best possible study environment. However, this sentiment was overshadowed by both mainstream Conservatives and mainstream Liberals in University Council, who approved the renovation in September 1351.

Construction would begin in June 1353 and be finished in May 1354, and would add to the Main Campus of the University a School of Psychology in the Northwest part, a School of Theatre in the Northeast part, a School of Education in the Southwest part, and a School of Trademarking in the Southeast part.

With said renovation completed, the Main Campus had no room left on its property for further lateral expansions. Thus, discussion arose in the University Council chambers surrounding three proposed solutions: to buy more land neighboring the Campus to the South, to buy land outside of Cabotton proper, or to expand underground space below the Main Campus. The first solution, buying neighboring land to the South, was deemed unfeasible for some Council Members due to its poor terrain and also the need to pay zoning expansion fees. The second solution, buying land outside of Cabotton proper, was also frowned upon by some due to having to provide consistent and costly mass transit for students, as well as confusion over tax codes and legal ambiguity surrounding the University Deed which provided a shield to the Main Campus from government intervention. And the third option, expanding underground, was deemed to cause too much of an interruption to University functions and was also the most expensive of the three options.

These propositions would be brought up time and again over the years that followed, but would lead, each time, to an impasse that would never be overcome.

It is important to note, however, that the underground expansion option brought to public light the notion that the Main Campus rested upon one of the world's richest henshale deposits. Though the henshale industry of Remikra died out in 1311, henshale developments in other parts of Circlaria, particularly those involving businesses based in the Kingdom of Gyrosak, were still thriving. Many henshale representatives from abroad came to the University with numerous propositions for the University to lease some of its property for drilling. Several Members in University Council voiced favor toward this, highlighting the potential financial benefits toward the University Treasury. However, being that such an idea violated the University Constitution principle against conducting for-profit business, the idea ultimately met an impasse.

Waltmann School Expansions

Following the success of Waltmann School Expansion Project V came discussions for Project VI, which involved expansion across international borders and occurred in three Phases. Phase I, approved by the University Council in June 1351, would begin construction in June 1353, finishing in May 1354, on one Waltmann School for every Duchy in the Kingdom of the Great North. Phase II, scheduled to be voted upon by June 1357, would begin construction in June 1359, finishing in May 1360, on one Waltmann School for every State in Tandeiyah. And Phase III, scheduled to be voted upon by June 1363, would begin construction in June 1365, finishing in May 1366, on one Waltmann School for every Province in Furthing. To note, all Waltmann Schools abroad would be tuition-free.

With this in progress, discussion emerged among Kotimer and supporting Council Members to arrange in Silba for June 1372 a conference between the University, numerous other schools, Congress of Circlaria, the Great North, Tandeiyah, and Furthing to possibly designate, officially, Cabotton University a Global Academy. This, however, triggered controversy within the Cabotton student body.

Originally, the idea of having a Global Academy, whether by administrating one or working with one, was an idea favored by Cabotton Conservatives, as Global Academies were respected, at the time, for providing standards of academic success. Over time, the idea of a Global Academy increasingly appealed to Cabotton Liberals, who had previously been opposed, because of how the Global Academy of Ancondria established tuition-free schools abroad, providing quality education to those otherwise less fortunate. Headmaster Kotimer and the Cabotton Liberals saw an opportunity for Cabotton University to do just that.

The issue with Cabotton University's initiative was that building more Waltmann Schools on such a scale would ultimately pass expansion costs down to those students within the Commonwealth who were still paying tuition. Kotimer addressed this concern by saying that the achievements were worth the cost. And so the Cabotton Conservatives began drawing upon Cabotton University's traditional past and its practice of not charging tuition to students. From this, they began increasingly to push for the elimination of student tuition and the practice of the University taking out bank loans.

Aerospace Projects

During the tenure of Prime Minister Alexander Schraber, the Independent Commonwealth State of Retun developed an Aerospace Program. Until the mid-1340s, most projects from this Program involved sending balloons to the upper atmosphere to record data. However, with the arrival of the mid-1340s came an initiative to engage in actual space exploration. And the federal government, now under Prime Minister Raol Robinson, tasked Cabotton University, primarily its School of Design and Engineering, to design and build spacecraft.

The initiative carried out by Cabotton University built the unmanned Slingshot Pod launched as the first-ever human-made object to space, which occurred on 02 June 1351 at 4:32 p.m. The initiative also produced the first manned spacecraft, which carried Urnamine Plake on 14 September 1353; and in the years to come, the initiative would construct significant parts of the internationally-owned space station, Ultima Porta.

The 1351 Headmaster Elections

Despite the new stances taken during this period, the Cabotton Conservatives had become very divided among themselves, with many individuals within prioritizing individual pride over collaboration with their peers. As a result, running on the Conservative side against Kotimer in the 1351 Headmaster election cycle were three candidates: Tom Kormann, Ervine Rondol, and Paul Morris. All vowed, basically, to roll back Kotimer's policies, while they failed to voice agendas of their own.

This proved humiliating for the Cabotton Conservative Party as Kotimer won re-election by a record seventy-five percent of the vote.

Resentment Toward the "Establishment"

Despite Kotimer's win in 1351, there began to emerge, within both the Liberal and Conservative camps of the student body, resentment against the incumbent University Administration, or the "establishment," over what appeared to be favoritism awarded toward high-achieving students. Furthermore, there was resentment against the ever-increasing student tuition.

Though Kotimer had promised to keep tuition affordable, inflation from the growing Retunian economy as well as mounting costs from the Waltmann School and Main Campus expansions had led the University Council to make such increases during sessions in October 1347 and October 1348. The Tuition Decision Committee established by Kotimer at the beginning of her tenure, attempting to regulate the rate of tuition increases but also having to factor in costs and inflation, permitted the University Council a larger and larger margin of tuition hikes as needed at a minimum. As a result, tuition increased to 1636.20 credits per semester in June 1349, and to 1835.82 credits per semester in June 1350. It then increased to 2062.79 credits per semester in June 1351, to 2346.42 credits in June 1352, to 2703.80 credits in June 1353, and to 3215.59 credits in June 1354.

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libraryofcirclaria · 6 months ago

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1276

Library of Circlaria

Cabotton University Timeline

Influential Events

A growing number of Members in the Third Level Society began, in the 1260s, calling for the creation of a medieval version of the Arturian Realm. This was supported by Meona Bell but such support never resonated with Society leadership or the majority of its Members. However, interest was voiced by Marcus Terrings and Jon Beyon, who invited Meona Bell and her supporting colleagues to travel to Cenofan in Canticula to discuss implementation of the agenda. The city of Cenofan would serve as the Headquarters for the leadership of this new project while dymensional plane servers were established in all the trading ports of the Midland River States. However, such an agenda would be short-lived, as the Lykian Republic overtook the Midland River States as well as the neighboring Chokian Republic, forcing Bell and her colleagues to disband the project. While a few of her colleagues left, a few remained and joined Bell in relocating to West Terredon, Combria. Here, the dymensional plane initiative evolved into an agenda of building a 10th-century version of Remikra. Meanwhile, Meona's colleagues informed both Cabotton University and the Basin District of the turn of events having taken place in South Canticula; however, the response was surprisingly indifferent. Combrian and Retunian society had largely sided with the alliance in North Canticula during the First Continental War from 1221 to 1226, a conflict won by the alliance of South Canticula. With North Canticula and its allies made to respect South Canticulan nations' call for independence and self-determination, Combria, the Retunian Republic, and their allies left South Canticulan nations to their own affairs, both good and bad. The Retunian Department of State voiced the same attitude regarding the Lykian takeovers; and even the press did not give South Canticula any attention. Cabotton University leadership voiced the same attitude and turned down funding for a group of Cabotton students friends with those working with Meona Bell to travel to the region to give aid.

***

Meanwhile, the Airship Cardian, a First-Generation Traditional Airship, left its base in Clareon, territorial capital of the Mid-Westerlies, to carry out a map survey expedition to the West, scheduled to occur between 5 and 8 June 1263. The vessel was piloted by Captain George Connin and was accompanied by Cabotton student, Jerris Brown, who was leading the survey project. On 6 June, they reached their survey area but, with a slightly-off prediction made by the National Weather Bureau, got caught in a cluster of thunderstorms. The airship navigated its way out of this weather system without major incident but had to make course corrections in order to return to Clareon. Brown, during this time, took an opportunity to salvage what he could from the failed mission, and took pictures of a cluster of isles he spotted out of the starboard side window.

The Cabotton University Planetarium was home to the Astronomy Department, which included the Planetary Curriculum, which, at the time, was divided into the Juno Minor Geographical Studies and the Extraterrestrial Geographical Studies. Dr. Dorian Linder was the head of the Juno Minor Geographical Studies and was known for having a constructive education approach as well as a relatively lax approach to grading. Jerris Brown was Linder's doctoral student, and therefore, in September 1263, submitted the Airship Cardian mission photographs to Linder for evaluation. Both Brown and Linder determined that the isle cluster photographed was already on standard Circlarian maps but that the shape and placement of each isle needed to be re-evaluated in terms of accuracy. Brown and Linder would submit such a proposal to the Retunian National Geographical Survey Program, or the RNGSP. The RNGSP, in turn, rejected the proposal due to inconclusive attributes with the photos. Linder and Brown determined to work on a re-submission, but other priorities led the ordeal to being effectively shelved.

Dr. Linder retired in the Spring of 1267, and was succeeded, that Fall, by Dr. Henry Roh, who was said to have a personality exactly the opposite of Dr. Linder. According to colleagues, Roh was short in stature, had a high-pitched voice, and also had a long beard. His curriculum focused on holding his students accountable toward high standards of academic excellence, as Dr. Roh assigned his students more projects and assignments, all of which were significantly more ambitious than those of Dr. Linder. Dr. Roh was also more intense on grading, as he also imposed strict evaluations on students for demonstrated passion in their studies and their willingness to go above and beyond what was expected of them. Needless to say, some students in this department, especially those who had grown close to the now-retired Dr. Linder, had grown to resent Dr. Roh.

Dr. Roh also focused on "cleaning up some of the loose ends" present during Linder's tenure. In doing so, he pulled the photos taken by Jerris Brown of the isles from Airship Cardian mission of 1263, and, after further study, made a realization based on the time of day, angle of the sun, and the reported position of the Airship, that the isles had not yet been charted. He also noted in the photograph a range of cliffs and mountains faintly on the horizon in the background. Dr. Roh contacted Jerris Brown, who agreed to join him in making a case to the RNGSP, who, in November 1267, gave Roh and Brown funding to lead a joint survey trip to chart the new lands. The survey would take place in March 1268 during which 150 miles of new continental coastline were photographed and mapped. The resulting maps and photographs were submitted to the RNGSP, who called for a Conference with Roh and Brown. Said Conference would take place in the Great Hall of Cabotton University on 5-8 June 1268, where it was decided that the new continent would be named Ancondria, meaning "eternal land" in Indigenous Remikran Vernacular. This garnered international attention, and between 3 and 19 October 1268, Cabotton University would join numerous other Circlarian schools and national governments on a mass survey mission to map Northeast Ancondria, the ruins of Edom, and the perimeter of the remainder of Ancondria, which was found to be a larger landmass than all of the other Circlarian landmasses combined.

***

According to Alconist religious doctrine, Braeus Alconus died, was resurrected, and gathered the "good spirits" to travel with him on a thousand ships to the Holy City of Edom to be with the Almighty One for eternal life. Numerous other religions also mentioned a fabled "Holy City of Edom" from where came the divine, as the said place was the source of enlightenment and salvation for humanity. The existence of Edom was, over the years, debated among scholars and religious figures alike, for there was no known location for the aforementioned "Holy City."

However, on 18 October 1268, another survey airship discovered the ruins of Edom in Ancondria. Initially, the team figured that the site was like that of the other Ancondrian city ruins found, but that this site was the largest. It was during the return trip that Sandra John, a Cabotton University student, made a leap, saying that the layout quite possibly bore a resemblance to the fabled Holy City of Edom. Dr. Roh and Jerris Brown studied the findings and confirmed John's theory, leading the RNGSP to provide funding for an on-ground survey, which would start on 19 March 1269. Over the years and decades that followed, countless maps and photographs would match up with consistencies spanning past myths.

The fact that Edom was found abandoned and ruined, however, did not resonate well with religious figures, primarily Alconist-Evangelists, who publicly denounced the findings as blasphemy.

Stipulated in the Homestead Act of 1231, a document signed in Cotts to bring an end to the Great Unrest in the Kingdom of the Great North, was the establishment of the Remikran National Debate Committee, or RNDC, in 1232. The first debate held by that organization was held that year, and debates would be held every four years going forward. The RNDC Debate of 1-8 November 1268 was held at the University of Daylram and focused on the question: "Should those individuals under the legal age be permitted to train in 'mock spellcasting' in order to help prepare for proper spellcaster talisman training when they reach legal age?" To note, the settlement on the debate was that such was permissible so long as there was a national standard in place. Though a controversy, the heat of this debate paled in comparison to the RNDC debate of 1-8 November 1272, which took place in the Great Hall of Cabotton University and centered around the question: "Were the ruins and artifacts surveyed in Ancondria between 1268 and 1269 those of the fabled Holy City of Edom?" Thousands of people from outside of the Retunian Republic, representing both sides of the debate, had makeshift tented encampments on and near the University campus during this time, despite directions from University Administration. And in the Great Hall, there carried out an orderly exchange of arguments, counter-arguments, and rebuttals, all of which were closely moderated by a Dialogue Control Board. As per protocol, at the end of the debate, all registered audience members were called to cast a vote on which side held more sound arguments. Said vote occurred as scheduled on 8 November, and the argument supporting the secular scientific studies was voted by the majority to be true. This angered those who had sided with the religious arguments, particularly the Alconist-Evangelists from Linbrae, who lashed out and sparked a riot that overtook both the Campus and the town of Cabotton proper. This forced town and University leaders to call on the federal government for martial law, who did not quell the uprisings completely until 10 November. The groups responsible were publicly condemned by Headmaster Cross, Prime Minister Jackson, Great Northern and Remikran Union leadership, and even lead clergy figures of the Linbraean Church.

***

A deep-trade agreement established in 1272 between the Retunian Republic and the Acrean Kingdom led to numerous economic benefits. However, revolutionary groups, between 1272 and 1273, overthrew the Acrean Crown and established the Acrean Republic. And in doing so, the new Acrean government terminated the deep-trade agreement, triggering a decline in the Retunian tradestone markets. North Kempton was especially hit hard by this, and had a resulting collapse in its economy as well as its financial institute: WestMar Bank. In 1272, Cabotton University had signed a contract with WestMar Bank to have a portion of its tradestone dividends go toward a Non-Profit Academic Trust Bond. The Acrean Fallout between 1273 and 1274, and the resulting economic collapse of North Kempton led said Trust Bond to actually cost the University financially in a significant way.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Jackson publicly refused to recognize the Acrean Republic and considered the Acrean Kingdom the victim of a coup as well as the Crown a "government in hiding." He invoked a Congress of Circlaria stipulation to declare war on the Acrean Republic in order to protect and preserve the now-deposed Crown. However, the war effort proved fruitless for the Retunian Republic, compounded by the fact that the Crown, itself, submitted surrender to the Acrean Republic on 4 June 1275. That day, Jackson conceded and signed a treaty with the revolutionaries, thus ending the Acrean War and leading the Retunian Republic to formally recognize the Acrean Republic. This would, of course, leave the economy of the Retunian Republic, as well as the financial situation of Cabotton University, under strain.

University Policy Stagnation

Martin Cross would be re-elected as the Headmaster of Cabotton University in 1267 and then again in 1273. In 1269, he signed policy to establish the Academic Standard Committee, which was designed to hold students academically accountable in order to prepare them for the lightfire market trade standards that the Retunian Republic shared with Furthing and the Circlarian Maritime Councils. This Committee garnered a mixed reaction from the student body, with half of the population supporting it and the other half voicing resentment over Cross overreaching in terms of academic standards. Disapproval also became prevalent with significant portions of both halves over Cross' handling of the 1272 Scholarly Debate Riots, with the half who opposed him decrying his decision as excessive in terms of imposing a police state and the other half decrying him for not doing enough. There was also resentment against Cross' decision with WestMar Bank in 1272, which had led to financial strain on the University in the wake of the Acrean fallout. Up to this point, the University Constitution had a principle against engaging in for-profit business; however, the same provision allowed for such behaviors if they would go toward a non-profit effort, which had been the deal with WestMar Bank. However, in 1274, in an act of embarrassing consolation, Cross signed a policy to not allow such non-profit engagements if they involved tradestones.

Said fallout and growing resentment did not begin, however, until shortly after Cross' Headmaster re-election in 1273, meaning that he would be leading as a University Headmaster to deliver on a call made by a large portion of the student body to expand the University. The 1276 Resolution signed by Prime Minister Jackson promised a federal financial package to the University to help more solidly establish education programs to help prepare students for the growing Circlarian lightfire trade market.

This provided a financial boost considering the situation with the new and emerging programs at the University. Numerous training classes emerged for the speciality of Critical Infrastructure over the years and were held initially in the wings of the University Administration Building. This proved to be an issue due to the growing number of recruits making scheduling and venue availability progressively difficult. Meanwhile, in the Juno Minor Studies program in the University Planetarium emerged a growing number of students and classes on the subject of Horticulture, which presented a similar issue. Furthermore, as part of the requirements involving the Academic Standard Committee, every School on the campus housed classrooms for business and ethics courses; although the subjects those covered were not always in the same building as the subject study they addressed, leading to erratic schedules particularly for upper-division students.

Student Tuition

These issues grew especially important during the Fall Semester of 1274. At that point, there was a call to build new Schools to house the new classes, and Prime Minister Jackson, though still a while off from the 1276 Resolution, had promised a federal package to help pay for such an expansion. All of the combined funding was outpaced by the mounting expenses and mounting economic losses of the time, forcing Cabotton University into financial strain as to endanger its ability to operate without loans. To this point, there had been an unwritten principle against the University taking out loans, and an explicitly written University Constitution principle against charging students tuition. However, latter had an exception which allowed the Administration to impose said tuition on students should financial matters leave no other option; however, said exemption dictated that this must be temporary and only for the duration of the financial emergency.

A proposition to invoke the tuition exemption was brought to University Council in October 1274, during which took place long-winded and intense debate over the matter owing to its intense controversy. On 6 November 1274, the University Council passed a measure to invoke the exception clause and impose a per-student-per-semester tuition of 483.84 credits, a measure signed by Headmaster Cross later that evening. On 7 November, Cross made a public statement on the matter, assuring the student population that this would only last through the Spring Semester of 1276. Later on, in the face of growing criticisms, Cross made a private remark that he would retire at the end of his ongoing term in December 1279.

Construction began in June 1275 on a new School of Horticulture (the Greenhouse) on the Northwest end of Campus, a new School of Critical Infrastructure on the West end of Campus, a new School of Business on the Northeast end of Campus, and a new School of Ethics on the East end of Campus. Said construction would be completed in May 1276.

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libraryofcirclaria · 6 months ago

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1235

Library of Circlaria

Cabotton University Timeline

Cabotton University: Progress and Expansion

With more classroom availability in the new buildings came a lesser presence of the classroom pavilions. This, along with the opportunity to engage in freedom of voice and self-determination in education, made Cabotton University an increasingly attractive option for prospective scholars, though it was still only locally known at the time.

The year 1235 was considered a relatively peaceful one for the University. The matter with the Emorans had been settled, and more measures met with fewer impasses, since Martin Cross and Thomas Snow, two de facto leading figures now, had now been in league with each other on the most part. In fact, the future seemed bright, as Martin Cross at a Council meeting declared publicly: "Let every Scholar, having been given ample opportunity at this University, contribute to the opportunity of future Scholars."

This led to an dramatic increase in the number of creative projects proposed to the Council by the Cabotton Scholars. But of this large plethora stood three significant figures: Steven Rothyn, proposing the construction of an Aviation School and Airfield, Jon Orr, proposing the addition of a Field House, and Bella Koth, proposing the creation of a University Lake connected to a University Fountain. All three propositions were passed by the University Council in March 1234 with nearly unanimous support. Construction would be completed on said renovations by June 1235.

School of Aviation and Navigation, University Airfield

The School of Aviation and Navigation was built purposefully in the larger-than-life shape of a fixed-wing aircraft with the intent to facilitate the designated spaces within for specific parts of experimental aircraft to be designed, built, and tested. The Aviation School itself sat on the Second Floor of the Building, below which stood the First Floor on ground level, and a Basement below ground level. The First Floor was dedicated to the design, construction, and testing of experimental automobiles, bicycles, and mesh trains. The Basement, consisting of a large pool known as the Water Tunnel, was dedicated to experimental boats, submarines, and other watercraft. This was important because, with only rare exceptions, such watercraft experiments were forbidden expressively by University Administration from being tested in the University Lake.

The University Airfield was a well-trimmed grass field. On the rooftop of the Aviation and Navigation School overlooking the Field was the Air Traffic Control Tower. And the Eastern half of the Field contained retractible rail moors for experimental airships. It is important to note, however, that this was not a public airport, and that no aircraft was permitted to take off from or land on this Field without reservation in advance from the Office of University Affairs.

The Field House

The Basement of the Field House consisted of a large swimming area including the Current Pool and the Stationary Pool. The Current Pool was about twenty feet in width and ran along the inside perimeter of the Field House. The current of this Pool ran clockwise during the first half of the week and counter-clockwise during the second half of the week. The Current Pool served as a venue for kayaking and other boating sports, as well as the occasional experiment for innovative small watercraft built by Navigation School students. Within the perimeter created by the Current Pool stood the Stationary Pool, consisting of a deep Diving Area on its West End and a vast Lap Pool on its East End.

Running around the inside perimeter of the First Floor of the Field House was two-deck track, with the upper deck dedicated to the Indoor Bicycling Track and the lower deck dedicated to the Indoor Running Track. The area within this perimeter was divided into two sections with the West Section dedicated to multi-purpose ball courts and the East Section dedicated to fitness equipment like weight-lifting. At the very East end of the latter section stood a health clinic dedicated to sporting injuries.

The West End of the Second Floor was dedicated to four Handball Ranges, each of which could be set up as either Throwing Ranges or Goal Ranges. The East End of the Second Floor served as a venue for the well-known "Gravitron Complex" a three-dimensional maze, rock wall, and fitness course made solely of spellmatter. The "Gravitron Complex" was named as such because of its experimentation with pseudo-gravity dynamics so that participants could experience such things as zero-gravity.

University Lake, University Fountain

Westerhill Creek was dammed up in the Southwest Corner of the University Campus grounds, and tons of earth moved so that the area would fill with water into the University Lake. Land in the Southwest portion of this Lake was raised to create Fellowship Isle, upon which sat Fellowship Lodge. The First Floor of this Lodge consisted of a Banquet Hall and Kitchen while the Second Floor consisted of ten guest bedrooms. Two piers extended from Fellowship Isle: one extending East and one extending South. The Eastward Pier was capable of altering its length to accommodate differing sizes of boats while the Southward Pier was capable of converting into a bridge. There was also a pier on the East Shore of the Lake, one on the West Shore, one on the South Shore, and one on the North Shore. Water from this Lake was piped from water vents below Fellowship Isle and filtered extensively as it was transported via the Estrayon Method to the University Fountain.

On the North End of the University Campus stood the University Fountain, which began operations on 15 May 1235 and would run a yearly schedule of operation from 1 April to 24 September of every year that followed. The spouts were, by default, shaped as models of the Five Houses and Fleming Tower. However, the spout apparatus was made solely of spellmatter with the intent to enable skilled students to get creative and shape it temporarily into various shapes and designs. Scholars in the years to come would take part and create things like artistic expressions, passionate messages, political messages, and even marriage proposals. To note, the latter evolved into a generational tradition for some scholars. And alongside the spellmatter-morphing was the ability for scholars to craft pseudo-tidal forces in the Fountain Pool, and thus carry out tests and tournaments for miniature model watercraft.

There were, of course, University policies governing what was considered appropriate for the University Fountain. And the High Scholar Delegation Timekeeper was tasked with restoring the Fountain to its default settings every Sunday evening. This role would later be transferred to the University Headmaster.

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libraryofcirclaria · 6 months ago

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1231

Library of Circlaria

Cabotton University Timeline

Westerhill Mines

In 1204, construction was completed for an airstrip near the Westerhill Mines and workers' town in order to facilitate the importation of new workers. This airstrip would become Gentry County Airfield in the years to come.

Starting between 1205 and 1206, however, a boom in ebony mining from nearby Ebony Valley lowered ebony prices. Dave Morriston, the owner of Westerhill Mines, committed to preserving Westerhill profit margins by freezing pay raises as well as forcing workers to work longer hours for the same pay. In 1211, the mine workers, led by Merlin Kent Ogden, united and carried out a strike. Not wishing to negotiate, Dave Morriston resigned from his position and was replaced by George Cabot, a close in-law and family friend to Ogden. Thus, negotiations succeeded in improving pay, hours, and working conditions for the miners. Furthermore, housing in the town was refurbished to facilitate middle-class living standards; and Ogden was rewarded for his efforts with an especially large residence that would become the address: 124 West Mason Street.

In 1217, the dominance of Ebony Valley over the industry forced the Westerhill Mines to close. This led the economy in the former miners' town to shift to that of trading shops, predominantly those of the spellcrafter trade. While this provided stability, Combrian leadership in Hasphitat desired for more of a purpose to be served by this town. They were soon approached by Robert Barrington, who proposed to purchase the preserved lands owned by the Emoran Heritage Foundation and build a special academy to provide a second chance to those Combrians who failed out of the Combrian education system.

Combrian law required all Combrian citizens to attend school through the level of a University bachelor degree. Any person in the University system receiving failing grades would be expelled from said University system and made to take a civil service job with the option of going through military service first in order to be considered for better promotions and pay raises. The issue here was that beginning around the 1210s and 1220s, a growing number of Combrian citizens believed this doctrine to be unfair and furthermore believed that Combrian students should be given second chances.

And thus Barrington rose to the occasion by proposing a new alternative curriculum vested in the construction of the Westerhill Institute of Academic Rehabilitation.

Westerhill Institute for Academic Rehabilitation

A few groups of collective youth working as spellcrafter traders in the former miner town attempted to speak on behalf of the Emorans against the idea of converting the preserved consecrated land to the miner town's immediate South into property developed for this new Institute. However, the Combrian government utterly ignored them and approved Barrington's proposal. Construction began in 1228 and would be completed in the spring of 1231.

The Westerhill Institute of Academic Rehabilitation was "simple-oriented" in its structure, consisting of a vast grid of criss-crossing sidewalks over vast lawns. In each corner square, and in the center square, stood a large structure with a square base. Each structure had a center pillar-wing of rooms, and a pillar-wing in each of its five corners. And each structure was five floors tall. These structures were the Five Schools of the Institute, with the one in the Northwest Corner named the William Peck School of Grammar, the one in the Northeast Corner named the John Arthur School of Science and Spellfire, the one in the Southeast Corner named the John Cracker School of Mathematics, the one in the Southwest Corner named the Michael Kelvin School of History and Law, and the one in the Center Square named the Mack Schrader School of Citizenship. Each School consisted of classrooms on its First Floor and student dormitories on the remaining Floors. The overall design of the Schools and the grounds was designed to be cut-and-dry, as well as large and intimidating in order to incentivize student focus and discipline.

Every student enrolled in the Westerhill Institute was subject to the same basic curriculum: to present what one did to cause academic failure, to receive feedback from the assigned Schoolmaster (mostly shaming), and to complete an assignment schedule given by the said Schoolmaster, with said schedule involving "fundamentals" courses on the affected subject, courses that imposed intense lecture-and-drill. The assignment schedule also required each student to complete a sophisticated project which also involved writing long essays explaining how the student thought to complete each step. This would also be subject to harsh feedback from the Schoolmaster.

Robert Barrington served as the Headmaster of Westerhill Institute from 2 through 23 May 1231, after which he resigned and was replaced by Arnold Stone.

John Fleming, University Establishment

John Fleming was born in December 1208 and grew up in Bridgetown in the District of Ereautea, and pursued a career agenda to become a trade accountant. In 1227, Fleming graduated high school with good grades and enrolled in the local branch of the University of Ereautea. Fleming completed his college freshman year in 1228 with academic distinction, and was recommended to enroll into Bridgetown College, a school independent of the University system and reserved for honors students. Fleming excelled in Bridgetown College for his sophomore year, at the end of which he was accepted into their Upper Division program and assigned a field internship for his junior year. However, Fleming had a political falling-out with one of his peers during this internship, and was made to look as if he was academically incompetent. Fleming as a result was expelled from Bridgetown College and would later have his re-application rejected by the University of Ereautea.

Fleming would work a year as a groundskeeper for the Bridge but then accepted an opportunity he received by letter to enroll in the Westerhill Institute.

Martin Cross was born in 1211, and grew up in Jestopole, where he would pursue a career agenda to be a contract scriptfire planecrafter for the Edoran Kingdom. Cross graduated high school in 1229 and, like Fleming, did so with good grades. That year, Cross enrolled in the University of Combria where he, like Fleming, passed with distinction and was moreover recommended for Upper Division that same school year. For his sophomore year, Cross was tasked with completing a dymensional plane project and presenting it as a proposition to enter the Terredon Royal College in the neighboring Kingdom of the Great North. The project involved creating an imitation of the land and territory of the Duchy of Daylram set in the tenth century. And though it was deemed impressive by Cross' peers, it was utterly rejected by the Royal College, who wrote a scathing complaint to the University of Combria on this. Though the University of Combria did not discipline him over the complaint, Cross had a mental break from the outcome and largely stopped attending classes. The University of Combria would expel him for his resulting attendance issues.

Cross then received a letter to enroll in the Westerhill Institute.

Thomas Snow was born in 1212 and grew up in Ebony Valley in the District of Ereautea to pursue a career as an engineer in ebony and related hardware construction. Like Cross and Fleming, Snow graduated high school in 1230 with good grades, but decided to work one year for one of the Ebony Valley construction companies. In the summer of 1230, before he started his job, Snow trained for and attained his Spellcaster License, an achievement which he made known to his co-workers later that year. This led to abrasion with some of them, including the high manager's son, who set him up to take on an assignment that appeared to simply involve surveying territory to the immediate Northwest for ebony deposits. This turned out to be a set-up, a discovery that Snow and his fellow surveyors only made when they, during the trip out into the wilderness, encountered dangerous wysps kept and then released by the manager's son. One of Snow's surveying crew people ran off and went missing, while Snow saved the other two, discharging spells and killing two wysps in the process. They and the person that ran off were rescued, but the incident did not pass without consequence for Snow. He would later be charged with endangerment for not realizing the area surveyed was prone to wysps, and also be penalized for the killing of the wysps themselves as they were considered by the Remikran Union to be an endangered species. Snow had a lawyer who managed to reduce the sentence for the incident to simply a fine, but this would also result in academic implications later on.

Snow received good grades during his freshman year, 1230-31. However, the University of Ereautea received documentation regarding the wysp incident and the legal proceedings. Though they did not consider this a criminal disqualification, the University leadership cited Snow's apparent lack of knowledge for biology and geography to be grounds for requiring a "remedial exam" in those subjects. Though Snow knew the material, the wording of this exam led him to failing it. Snow was then made to reconsider his career path through an "aptitude exam." And while this exam was open-ended, it was possible for a student to fail it if they did not demonstrate measurable strength for any particular career path. Like the first exam, the wording of this second exam led Snow to receiving a failing score; and so as a consequence, Snow was destined to be expelled from the University system.

Westerhill Institute enrollment was selective in nature and was done by invitation. However, Snow, in the course of working in the ebony mining industry, had befriended Merlin Kent Ogden, who worked closely with the Institute and leveraged them into enrolling Snow.

And so in the summer of 1231, John Fleming, Martin Cross, and Thomas Snow became acquainted with one another.

Such a mutual acquaintance began with Cross and Snow, who were assigned roommates and were quarreling with one another over menial logistical matters. Fleming overheard the arguments and summoned Cross and Snow to his room, where the three of them shared their backgrounds and their common hatred toward the oppressive Combrian education system. Fleming was inspired by Cross' dymensional plane project and suggested that he and Snow build one here at Westerhill. Cross initially dismissed the idea as unfeasible, but Snow voiced disagreement, stating that Merlin Kent Ogden had the hardware and venue to build such an apparatus. Cross surrendered to the idea; and several days later, they met with Ogden, who agreed to the arrangement.

On 13 June 1231, Arnold Stone arrived at the Westerhill Institute to start his tenure as the new Headmaster. The next evening, he was visited by Cross and Snow, who were sent to him by the Master of the Kelvin School for poor academic performance; both students had failed an exam due to not being able to form words for answers quickly enough due to lack of sleep. Upon further investigation, Stone learned that the two students had stayed up late into the night working on the dymensional plane with Merlin Kent Ogden. In response, Stone asked to travel to 124 West Mason Street to see this dymensional plane project.

On 19 June, Stone made the visit to the venue, where instead of moving to shut down the project, Stone was impressed with it and requested to have it moved to the Library located in the Mack Schrader School. The next day, this move was made. And on 21 June, Cross and Snow presented this dymensional plane to the other Westerhill students, who took great interest. The following day, Headmaster Stone made an announcement to all Westerhill students and faculty that this dymensional plane project, now known as simply the Project, would serve as a central part of a new curriculum. Stone furthermore declared that all students and faculty would be termed equally as "Scholars" and that faculty were required to pose research questions and provide resourceful information. Stone also banned the oppressive grading system for academic performance and declared the Library open to all Scholars.

However, George Kormell, Master of the Mack Schrader School, reported Stone to the Combria Department of Education for "significant and detrimental educational curriculum deviations." The Education Department accepted the request to press this charge, and subsequently sent a letter to Stone on 13 September, dismissing him from the Headmaster position. Kormell was assigned as the next Headmaster, prompting waves of protests from the students.

As the new Headmaster, on 17 September 1231, Kormell announced his intent to re-instill the old lecture-and-drill curriculum. However, the students staged a mass-walkout and began forming human chains around each of the Five Schools, chanting "Bring back Stone!"

On 18 September, protests escalated, as students began throwing rocks and destroying property. The Masters of the John Arthur, Michael Kelvin, and William Peck Schools resigned, as Headmaster Kormell called in martial law, who, on that day, shot dead John Fleming during a heated confrontation in front of the Mack Schrader School.

This further enraged the student protestors, who, that evening, stormed the Schools under the Masters who resigned. They overtook the John Arthur School and renamed it the House of Thomas Adams, one of their still-living protest leaders. They also seized the Michael Kelvin School, renaming it the House of Alexander Norris, and the William Peck School, renaming it the House of James Randall.

On 19 September, the student protestors were joined by the former-miner town shopkeepers and the former-miners, both of whom held sympathy for the students and a common hatred toward the old Combrian system. The protestors that day stormed the John Cracker School and beat its Master to death; they would later rename this building the House of Karl Deering. In response, Kormell barricaded himself in his Office and refused calls to leave, and on 21 September, called in more reinforcements. This was countered with even more protestors, consisting of students and a growing number of allies. On 22 September, Kormell sent a ticker-text message to the Combrian government for a significant boost in money and resources to deal with this crisis, to which the government responded with a promise to do so.

Nevertheless, gridlock continued between both sides of the crisis, until 2 October, when Kormell was approached by George Cabot with a proposition to purchase the Institute as private property for a large sum of money. Kormell relented and signed a joint proposition with Cabot for approval from the Combrian government on this. The Combrian government approved the transaction, and, on 12 October, sent Kormell a letter granting him an honorable dismissal from the Headmaster position and a rewarding retirement.

George Cabot, on 13 October, transferred ownership of the Institute to Arnold Stone, who waived ownership to the Scholars. That day, they voted to rename the Institute to Cabotton University and also to rename Mack Schrader School as John Fleming House. On 2 November, the Cabotton University student body voted in a University Constitution, which mandated the University to be run democratically according to its administrative structure, as cited in a corresponding blog entry. And on 6 June 1232, Cabotton University began classes with its first Summer Semester.

Cabotton University would then begin its first official school year with a Fall Semester commencing on 2 September 1232.

<- 1203 <- || -> 1233 ->

#LOC-CabottonUniversityTimeline

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